Simple Pleasures

My day got off to a good start with a couple French presses full of self roasted Panama Boquete coffee.

I then enjoyed a relaxing shave.

More coffee, home cured bacon + eggs.

At the moment I'm sitting in the backyard (already 80 degrees out) smoking a Montecristo #4 accompanied by a Kirin Ichiban.

I'm contentedly enjoying the day, don't know what could make it better.

Wow, I'm surprised there are so many badgers that are home roasters. You're right, it's all about the simple things.

j6ppc said:

My day got off to a good start with a couple French presses full of self roasted Panama Boquete coffee.

I then enjoyed a relaxing shave.

More coffee, home cured bacon + eggs.

At the moment I'm sitting in the backyard (already 80 degrees out) smoking a Montecristo #4 accompanied by a Kirin Ichiban.

I'm contentedly enjoying the day, don't know what could make it better.

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The Swedish Bikini Team might parachute in, but short of that it sounds like you're having an enviable day. Keep enjoying!

It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Hmm, home cured bacon- do tell.

ouch said:

It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Hmm, home cured bacon- do tell.

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Slow pigs?

I'm liking the sound of home cured bacon. Something I have never tried.
Good to have another home roaster in the group! Nothing like home-roasted, freshly ground beans put through a French press or good expresso machine.

Sounds like you are having the best of days.

ouch said:

It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Hmm, home cured bacon- do tell.

Click to expand...

Dead easy.

• Purchase skin on pork bellies from your friendly Asian or Latino butcher (<$2 / lb)
• Combine salt, pepper, pink salt (a curing mixture), sugar maybe some pepper / garlic whatever (exact proportions are important but I can only paraphrase due to copyright)
• dredge the bellies in this mixture, put up in individual vacupac bags or ziplocs
• Allow to cure in a cool place (fridge) for a week or two being careful to rotate the stack top to bottom
• rinse, pat dry, smoke to internal temp of 150
• remove skin (saving for soup/beans whatever)
• repack and store in fridge or freeze until needed (this will keep for months just in the fridge)

Pretty damn tasty and very little actual effort or cost involved. I try to keep a couple bellies of cured bacon around as well as panchetta. Really you are turning something you get for very little $ into something you'd pay $10-20$ a lb for.

I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn - you'll recoup the cost of the book with your first batch of bacon and there are a wealth of dry cured sausage recipes there as well not to mention all of the other goodies. We have not purchased much in the way of cured meat products since getting this book, the results are that damn good.



There is a pretty nifty thread over on egullet that discusses "cooking" with this book, Ruhlman was an active participant in that thread; it is actually 97(!) pages long and still going strong.

Sounds like a beautiful start to the day. I have home cured bacon in the past and I have to say it is the nicest stuff I have ever tasted - apart from the antipasti hams that we enjoyed in Rome, Capri, Sorrento and Naples a couple of years back, I don't know if it was the environment, but I don't think I will ever ever ever get better food than that trip

R-James said:

Sounds like a beautiful start to the day. I have home cured bacon in the past and I have to say it is the nicest stuff I have ever tasted - apart from the antipasti hams that we enjoyed in Rome, Capri, Sorrento and Naples a couple of years back, I don't know if it was the environment, but I don't think I will ever ever ever get better food than that trip

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Indeed. My love for traditionally cured meats is what led me to start curing as most of the good stuff is unavailable in the U.S. (for the most part).

Did you taste some lardo when you were in Italy? That stuff is to die for good. I've been unable to find a good source for backfat here so have not made any lardo yet. If you want a close approximation of those meats then you'll have to cure them yourself or source your salumi from here (company founded as a retirement project by Batali's father).

I was lucky enough to sample Lardo yes, we went to an all Italy tasting in Naples and were treated to an evening of different regional cured meats and vegetable antipasi, and accompanying wines.

j6ppc said:

I've been unable to find a good source for backfat here so have not made any lardo yet.

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Russian "salo" successfully put me off pork fat for life.

OK, you got me convinced! Just ordered the book from Amazon. Now, just have to find that friendly butcher...
Thanks!!!

j6ppc said:

Dead easy.

• Purchase skin on pork bellies from your friendly Asian or Latino butcher (<$2 / lb)
• Combine salt, pepper, pink salt (a curing mixture), sugar maybe some pepper / garlic whatever (exact proportions are important but I can only paraphrase due to copyright)
• dredge the bellies in this mixture, put up in individual vacupac bags or ziplocs
• Allow to cure in a cool place (fridge) for a week or two being careful to rotate the stack top to bottom
• rinse, pat dry, smoke to internal temp of 150
• remove skin (saving for soup/beans whatever)
• repack and store in fridge or freeze until needed (this will keep for months just in the fridge)

Pretty damn tasty and very little actual effort or cost involved. I try to keep a couple bellies of cured bacon around as well as panchetta. Really you are turning something you get for very little $ into something you'd pay $10-20$ a lb for.

I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn - you'll recoup the cost of the book with your first batch of bacon and there are a wealth of dry cured sausage recipes there as well not to mention all of the other goodies. We have not purchased much in the way of cured meat products since getting this book, the results are that damn good.

There is a pretty nifty thread over on egullet that discusses "cooking" with this book, Ruhlman was an active participant in that thread; it is actually 97(!) pages long and still going strong.

Click to expand...

Bluestaco said:

The Swedish Bikini Team might parachute in, but short of that it sounds like you're having an enviable day. Keep enjoying!

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Now we're talking!